ARU has misread Quade Cooper's intention
ARU has misread Quade Cooper's intention
* Bret Harris
* From: The Australian
* August 17, 2010 12:00AM
WESTERN Force announced the signing of New Zealander Willie Ripia yesterday.
But if things had turned out differently the Super 15 franchise could have secured Quade Cooper, averting his threat to switch to rugby league.
Cooper had been interested in moving from Queensland Reds to the Force to join his good friends David Pocock and James O'Connor, and to tap into the bountiful reservoir of third-party endorsements in the west.
But it was obvious that the ARU wanted Cooper to remain in Queensland where his unique brand of playmaking had helped the Reds rise from the bottom of the table.
The ARU is normally appreciative of third-party deals - as long as they comply with recruitment protocols - because they help to keep leading Wallabies out of the clutches of rich clubs in Europe and Japan.
But Cooper's situation was different.
The ARU is administering the Queensland Rugby Union after it went into receivership. And it needs a drawcard like Cooper to sell tickets.
Crowds at Reds games increased by 29 per cent in this year's Super 14 series and that was due largely to the exciting brand of rugby Queensland played as a result of Cooper's direction of the attack.
From a Wallabies perspective, there was a view that it would be in the national interest for Cooper to continue to develop his outstanding combination with Reds halfback Will Genia.
Genia and Cooper are regarded as the new "Gregan and Larkham" and are set to direct Queensland and Australia for years to come.
The Force, aware it would be politically dangerous to snare Cooper from Queensland, made a standard offer to him, which he rejected.
Cooper indicated he would stay in Queensland where he could attract some third-party money, but not as much as he could have commanded in Perth.
Yet if Cooper had secured a lucrative third-party deal in Perth, it may have taken pressure off the ARU financially and helped to fend off the threat from rugby league.
But no one saw that threat coming. Even last Friday, ARU chief executive John O'Neill dismissed speculation about Parramatta's interest in Cooper as an attempt by his management to bump up his price.
But it is now clear that Cooper is serious about switching codes if the ARU does not increase its top-up.
The ARU has badly misread Cooper, his dreams and ambitions.
While the lure of playing for the Wallabies in the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand is great, so is the possibility of playing State of Origin and becoming a dual international.
Cooper is demanding remuneration which reflects not what he was or what he will be, but what he is - one of the world's premier playmakers.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225906088264
Newcastle Knights join race to snare Quade Cooper if he switches codes
Newcastle Knights join race to snare Quade Cooper if he switches codes
By Stuart Honeysett
August 17, 2010
Having been burned by Mark Gasnier in 2008, the NRL has told Quade Cooper it will not offer any financial guarantees to top up his contract even if he is genuine about switching codes.
The message came as the interest in Cooper intensified, with Newcastle Knights considering joining Parramatta in the race to sign the Wallabies superstar.
The Knights went within a whisker of snaring Cooper when he was last off contract in 2007 on the recommendation of club great Matthew Johns.
Newcastle strategic development manager Keith Onslow has maintained a close relationship with the Wallabies five-eighth and the club would look to third-party deals to prop up any proposed bid.
The Knights showed their hand as NRL marketing manager Paul Kind met Cooper's manager, Richard Colreavy, at the league's headquarters..
Colreavy turned up for the meeting half an hour early to hear how about any opportunities the NRL had to offer.
Kind told him it was an exciting time to be involved in rugby league with changes to the salary cap, the formation of an independent commission and a new television deal all expected to generate more revenue for its players.
"We had an open discussion about how sponsorship programs works," Kind said.
"He was offered no guarantees from us but if he signs we'd be happy to meet again and talk about what it means to have him as a rugby league player.
"It's a pretty exciting time for a young, elite athlete to be considering rugby league because in the near future the game has a lot of potential, positive change."
The NRL is reticent to guarantee a third-party sponsorship after becoming caught out by Gasnier's move to French rugby in 2008.
The St George Illawarra star centre exploited a loophole in his contract that allowed him to leave the code if any of his payments from proposed TPAs fell through.
Gasnier left a bitter man after believing the NRL had done little to help him even though the league has always maintained it could never offer a guarantee in a player's contract when it comes to sponsors' money.
"We made it really clear to every player manager that's come through here that we can't guarantee sponsorship money or ambassadorial money or any form of salary top-up," Kind said.
"We make it clearer now as a result of the discussions around Mark Gasnier that they can't make their decisions based on financial increases from the NRL."
Parramatta has done its best to lure Cooper to the Eels by offering a deal worth an estimated $500,000 a season.
"I'm just waiting to hear from them," Eels chief Paul Osborne said yesterday. "I still think there's a fair amount of leveraging to go."
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...018866,00.html
No 'crazy money' for Quade Cooper: ARU
No 'crazy money' for Quade Cooper: ARU
By David Beniuk, AAP August 17, 2010, 4:30 pm
Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill is adamant he won't pay "crazy money" for Quade Cooper, but remains confident the star five-eighth will stay with the 15-man game.
The stakes were raised in the battle for Cooper's services when his manager Richard Colreavy met NRL officials on Monday in the wake of interest from league clubs Parramatta and Newcastle.
The 22-year-old has reportedly been offered $500,000 a year to join the Eels, while the ARU have tabled a guaranteed $350,000 plus match payments which could take his earnings to $600,000 a season.
O'Neill, who has sought to rein in player payments, said he would not be bullied into paying overs for Cooper, the player whose meteoric rise has made him a key to Australia's World Cup challenge next year.
"We're confident we can come to an arrangement with Quade that's in his best interests, not just financially but for him as a person and someone who can make an enormous mark on our game," O'Neill told reporters on Tuesday.
"He is a very important and valuable part of the future of Australian rugby and particularly the Wallabies, but we won't be paying crazy money, it will be money that's appropriate for a player of his value."
The rest here....